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Guest: Thomas (Tom) Olson. Topics: 2015 in review, 2016 space events, best and worst space events of the year. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, https://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm. For those listening to archives using live365.com and rating the programs, please email me as to why you assign a specific rating to the show. This will help me bring better programming to the audience.

We welcomed back Tom Olson for his traditional annual year in review show, this time for the year 2015. During the first segment of our 1 hour 45 minute discussion, I asked Tom to start off with the worst space event for 2015 rather than the best. Interestingly, he said it was the fact that another year has gone by without our flying people to space, either orbital or suborbital. This opened up a discussion about disappointments in the suborbital industry other than for Blue Origin which got the best grade along with SpaceX for their landing their rocket back on the pad after making it to space. As for the best, Tom mentioned several “bests” during the show but started out with the new commercial space legislation recently signed into law, specifically the part about funding commercial crew and U.S citizens being able to extract resources from asteroids. He spoke about the launch industry in general saying this was a near record year with 87 total launches. He talked about the ISS extension to 2024, commercial projects on the station and he said it would be better to design a commercial station properly than to try and commercialize the ISS. Tom then mentioned several entrepreneurial companies worth noting and watching including Planet Labs, Spire, Made In Space, also Sierra Nevada with the continuation of its Dream Chaser space vehicle. Listener Robert asked if his views on space solar power had changed in 2015. Tom said no but listen to his explanation. I asked Tom for the top space leaders of 2015. He had trouble naming a few other than Bezos and Musk. He said there were no heroes. All of the space men and women were heroes. Jeff from Denver asked Tom if he changed his mind on SLS/Orion from previous years. Again, Tom said no but listen to his full explanation. Another listener asked him if he thought 2016 presidential politics would influence space policy. Again, he answered with a no. Ft. Worth John called to talk about artificial gravity experiments that were needed, Falcon 9 landing the 1st stage successfully, plus he asked when the Falcon Heavy would fly.

In the second segment, Luis from Venezuela asked Tom about small scale laser beaming of power from powersats to landers and assets on the lunar surface. Next up was Dr. Lurio who put in a plug for Made In Space for a 2015 outstanding company award, then he talked about XCOR, responding to some of the recent management changes in the company plus the comments Tom was making about the company. Tom further addressed Made In Space and mentioned a 3D bioprinter. Here is the link to the story he mentioned about the bioprinter, http://medcitynews.com/2015/08/watch-out-organovo-biobots-launching-new-line-of-low-cost-3d-bioprinters. Tom spoke more about the Bigelow ISS BEAM Module experiment for later in 2016, then talked about the success of deep space exploration, JPL, and more. He mentioned running water on Mars, Cassini and Titan photos, New Horizons and Pluto and the Dawn Mission to Ceres. He also gave credit to Rosetta and the Comet 67P mission , then commented on the disappointment about the delay in the Insight Mars mission. Tom mentioned Putin’s reorganization of the Russian space industry to just Roscosmos, then he said the weirdest event of the year was the exoplanet discovery of the mysterious dimming in light value with some in the media reporting the possible discovery of alien ruins (see http://news.discovery.com/space/alien-life-exoplanets/has-kepler-discovered-an-alien-megastructure-151014.htm). Near the end of the program, Tom talked at length about important changes in the New Space Business Plan Competition. A listener then asked him about space films for 2015 and Tom commented on The Martian and television science fiction programming. He also mentioned the twins study on the ISS was nearing its end and Scott Kelly had set a record for the most time spent in space by an American astronaut. Before the show ended we talked about one way trips to Mars, Mars One and then Tom predicted that Mr. Musk will get to Mars before NASA. He concluded by saying that 2015 was an inspiring year for space on all fronts.

Please post your comments/Questions on TSS blog above. Happy New Year to all of you. Keep it safe, have a great celebration and I wish you all a terrific 2016! Thank you again for your Space Show support.

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Guest: Ken Murphy. Topics: Cislunar development, returning to the Moon, Mars, Moon Day, NASA and much more. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, https://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm. For those listening to archives using live365.com and rating the programs, please email me as to why you assign a specific rating to the show. This will help me bring better programming to the audience.

We welcomed back Ken Murphy to discuss space current events, his coming articles and stories, and reasons for returning to the Moon and developing cislunar space. During the first segment of our 2 hour 2 minute discussion, Ken started out by telling us about his upcoming Jan. 4, 2016 Space Review article regarding the July 2016 Moon Day celebration in Dallas. He provided the logistical details for the event throughout our discussion, plus he described the event, the Lunar Sample Bags, the educational outreach, and their ham radio connection to the ISS via the ARISS Program. This discussion was followed by our talking about the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch and first stage recovery. Ken then talked about making significant changes in NASA to advance space development, especially getting younger employees at NASA with an average age in the 30’s by getting rid of the older NASA employees. This comment caused John from Ft. Worth to call to remind Ken of anti-age discrimination laws, wondering just how Ken would get rid of the older people at NASA. We shifted our discussion to cislunar development and international lunar development efforts. We talked about the need for public private programs to do cislunar and lunar development. Betty emailed Ken to ask him if he thought all the lunar advocacy made a difference and helped the cause of our getting back to the Moon. Ken’s response to Betty might surprise you so don’t miss it. Before the break, we talked about education and the public’s space educational level. You definitely want to hear what Ken said about the average person’s space knowledge and teachers in our K-high school grades. Tell us what you think about Ken’s education and teacher analysis and comments by posting your thoughts on TSS blog.

In the second segment, we talked about going back to the Moon, then Ken brought up lunar dust issues, then in response to the typical Moon or Mars question, he said the Moon was our sand box made to order to train us for solar system exploration and even settlement. He also said while he is interested in Mars and space settlement, his near term focus was on cislunar development and returning to the Moon. During our program, he often referred to talks he has given to the general public so he talked at length about both space and STEM being a hook for getting young people interested in space and the STEM topics. He again mentioned that on Moon Day, they would be talking with the ISS crew via the ARISS program,. Preston from Chicago asked him if he had seen The Martian or the latest Star Wars movie. His response and what he said about the movies will have to be a surprise for you. Near the end of the program, Jerry asked him about his support for advanced propulsion and Jack asked him what he thought of Elon’s plans to go to Mars in 15 years or so. Ken was also asked for his opinion on space solar power and about using water ice on the Moon for fuel. Ken said it would be better to work the Moon from L1. In conclusion, he offered us a good takeaway message and a good set of closing statements you will want to hear.

Make sure you post your comments/questions on TSS blog. You can reach Ken through The Space Show or The Moon Society (www.moonsociety.org). Finally, Merry Christmas everyone. The Space Show team and I wish you a very good holiday season.

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Guests: Francis Rose (Guest Host), Dr. Jeff Foust, Dr. David Livingston. Topics: Return to flight for Orbital ATK and SpaceX. You are invited to comment, ask questions, and discuss the Space Show program/guest(s) on the Space Show blog. Comments, questions, and any discussion must be relevant and applicable to Space Show programming. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are not permitted without prior written consent from The Space Show (even if for personal use) & are a violation of the Space Show copyright. We do not permit the commercial use of any Space Show program or part thereof, nor do we permit Space Show programs to be edited, placed on YouTube, or other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted in news articles, papers, academic & research work but must be cited or referenced in the proper citation format. Contact Dr. Livingston for questions about our copyright and trademark policies which we do enforce. This program is archived on The Space Show website, podcasting, and blog sites with permission from John Batchelor. Please visit the John Batchelor Show website for more information about this fine program, www.johnbatchelorshow.com. Remember, your Amazon Purchases Can Help Support The Space Show/OGLF (www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm). For those of you listening to archives on live365.com & rating the programs, please email me the reasons for your rating. This will definitely help improve Space Show programming. Thank you. Please note that audio and transition issues are a result of copying the John Batchelor broadcast & are not within my control as they originate in the Batchelor studio.

Francis Rose, guest hosting for John Batchelor, and I welcomed back Dr. Jeff Foust to discuss the return to flight for Orbital ATK and SpaceX. In our discussion, we talked about the Russian rocket engines and their use in the U.S, specifically the RC180 and the RD181. Jeff elaborated on Orbital ATK using the Atlas 5 for two launches before bringing the Antares back on line in the late spring 2016. Regarding SpaceX, Jeff said everyone was waiting for the scheduled static firing test which had not happened by air time, followed by the Falcon 9 launch on Saturday providing everything went well with the test. Francis also asked Jeff about what seemed to be very heavy ISS space traffic coming and going.

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Guest: Doug Messier. Topics: The Virgin Galactic current multi-part series on www.parabolicarc.com and more. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, https://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm. For those listening to archives using live365.com and rating the programs, please email me as to why you assign a specific rating to the show. This will help me bring better programming to the audience.

We welcomed Doug Messier back to the program. During the first segment of our nearly two hour show, Doug started off by telling about his current multi-part series running this past week on www.paraboloicarc.com regarding Virgin Galactic and SpaceShipTwo. Given the accident happened slightly more than a year ago, Doug put together a comprehensive series of articles on the accident, the pilots, the NTSB report, Virgin Galactic, Scaled and more. This is a multi-part series you will want to read. The majority of the first segment’s discussion was based on the articles with questions from listeners and myself about various aspects of the company, the accident, the people involved, the mission control room, and the NTSB report plus supporting documents which Doug studied for his articles. Listener Alec sent in an email before the show wanting to know if SS2 has been more closely modeled after SS! if the company would have been flying by now. Doug had much to say in response to this question dealing with the expansion to SS2 which was 3 times larger than SS1 and more. When asked about return to flight, Doug suggested the possibility of Feb. 2016 but that was not definite. This was in response to Josh asking for a Virgin time line. Doug also got questions about Virgin and Spaceport America, then he was asked if noticed differences in Virgin’s presentation both pre and post the accident. The subject of safety and test flight programs came up for Virgin, XCOR and all the companies. We talked about safety and test flight programs in general with Doug, myself and some listeners, agreeing that the test programs were not extensive enough or sufficiently comprehensive. Don’t miss this discussion which included comments about the flight test envelope challenges, the X-15 as a possible model, and comments made by Neil Armstrong at the recent Suborbital Conference held a few years ago in Palo Alto, CA.

In the second segment, I started out by asking Doug about the new Commercial Space Law agreed upon by the House and Senate, specifically the part about asteroid mining and quasi-property rights. I pointed out the feedback I was getting about this section being in opposition to the Outer Space Treat and many were not happy with it, nor did we know if it would have any legal standing outside the U.S. Tim called in to support the asteroid mining provisions in the law. John from Ft. Worth called in to talk about the DARPA XS-1 program and Masten Space Sciences. Burton in Canada asked about SLS, then Dr. Lurio called in to talk safety and many other topics. Before the show ended, Tim called back to ask about the XCOR piston pump progress.

Please post your comments/questions on TSS blog above. You can reach Doug through www.parabolicarc.com or me.

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Guest: Wayne Eleazer. Topics: Launch failures and why they happen. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, https://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm. For those listening to archives using live365.com and rating the programs, please email me as to why you assign a specific rating to the show. This will help me bring better programming to the audience.

We welcomed Wayne Eleazer to the show to discuss the history and why of rocket launch failures per the many articles he has written over the years on these subjects for The Space Review. In the first segment of our 1 hour 58 minute discussion, Wayne started us off responding to my question about the most dramatic launch failure he has seen or studied. He talked about a spectacular Titan failure so don’t miss his story. Michael Listner called and talked about many topics including Air Force mishap reports. What Wayne had to say about the mishap reports and the Air Force candor regarding launch failures was very interesting and informative. Wayne introduced us to the Oops Factor regarding failures, a concept he used in an earlier Space Review article. This refers to one thing causing the launch failure but the people down the line with oversight responsibility all miss it or “oops!” SpaceX and the Falcon 9 problems came up many times but here Wayne talked about the needed culture in a company to deal with launch failures, learn from them, and work to keep them from happening again. He thought SpaceX was doing all of that. He also talked about Orbital ATK and the Antares and their culture, then I asked him about the SpaceShip2 failure/accident. Near the end of the first segment, Jay asked Wayne if military rockets had similar launch failure problems. Wayne’s response about the military rocket motor, its reliability, testing, and costs was most illuminating. As we learned, the military rocket motor stands alone in quality.

In the second segment, Wayne was asked if he could spot trends that cause launch failures over and over again. He said no but listen to his complete answer. He called this the “Predictables” and is completing a new Space Review article on this subject. He listed several examples including his use of the Challenger loss as well as Delta and Atlas failures. I asked him if on the military side, there were consequences for military personnel with responsibility and oversight duties, maybe a demotion, court martial, anything. You might be surprised by his answer to this question. We talked more about the Falcon 9 and EELVs in this segment, plus the old Thor and the Atlas. Barry asked Wayne about Russian launch failures. Wayne talked about the Russian culture and problems. Near the end, he said EELV reliability was improving. He made some additional Atlas and Falcon 9 comparisons, then I asked if there was an expected failure rate for these rockets. Wayne suggested if a company survives ten launches, their odds for survival improve greatly. Doug asked about fairing issues. Wayne talked about the ways that a fairing can open up and we talked about the recent Taurus failures due to fairing problems. Doug followed up his question asking about the reliability for the Falcon Heavy. Wayne had much to say about reliability and strap on rockets &the odds of a failure by strapping rockets together. You might be surprised by what he said. I asked him about modular all purpose, all mission rockets, complexity vs. simplicity, small start-up launch operations and the SLS. In concluding the show, he talked about the value in understanding launch failures. He talked about education on launch failures and why it has been so hard for people to be open minded and learn from rocket failures. At one point, he mentioned an older German rocket company building an ugly pipe rocket, OTRAG.

Please post your comments/questions on TSS blog. You can reach Wayne through me.

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Guest: Rand Simberg. Topics: The Roadblock to Mars and Rand’s recent Kickstarter campaign success. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, https://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm. For those listening to archives using live365.com and rating the programs, please email me as to why you assign a specific rating to the show. This will help me bring better programming to the audience.

We welcomed Rand Simberg back to the show to discuss his recent successful Kickstarter campaign, “Clearing The Roadblock To Mars.” Check it out at www.kickstarter.com/projects/1960236542/clearing-the-roadblock-to-mars. During the first segment of our 1 hour 32 minute show, Rand introduced us to the purpose of this campaign which was to show how much better and wiser NASA could use the funds now being spent on SLS. Or as Rand said throughout our discussion, to get more bang for the buck. Of course this assumes NASA would use the savings wisely. In this segment, Rand spent considerable time addressing the lack of SLS missions, the types of missions SLS might be used for but so far no such SLS missions have been settled on, plus he talked about having more efficiency by using smaller rockets, more launches and fuel depots. He also said we were not serious about space as evidence by the SLS program. Several listeners asked him about the trades between heavy lift and a smaller rocket, the risks involved, costs and more as this is a common debate topic in the industry. Rand said the debate would eventually be settled by market forces. I added in that the characteristics and performance of the rockets being used to settle the heavy lift or not question will also factor into any conclusions reached on this subject. Rand then talked about the Aerojet Rocketdyne announcement that they wanted to acquire ULA for $2 billion. This led to an additional discussion about the Atlas rocket, Russian rocket engines, Vulcan, and Blue Origin. He also answered specific questions about his Kickstarter project which he said was to show how much more could be done wit h the SLS money rather than spending it on SLS. In response to listener questions wanting him to compare SLS to Falcon Heavy, he said about three Falcon Heavy launches would equal one SLS launch. He advocated SpaceX do an Apollo 8 type of flight with the Falcon and Dragon but then said it probably would not happen because of their relationship with NASA.

As we started the second segment, Dr. Doug called from S. California to inquire about the technical capability of SLS and Falcon Heavy plus the ULA Vulcan medium to heavy lift rocket. In addition, Rand discussed the reusable Vulcan concept as compared to the SpaceX concept of landing on a barge. Rand was asked about the need for heavy lift for Mars. He made it clear he was not interested in Mars per se, instead, he wanted to lower the cost of space access to make it possible for anyone to go anywhere in the solar system, including Mars. Rand said over and over again that he was destination agnostic. He continued getting questions about heavy life vs. many smaller rocket launches. Rand said things like it was too risky to put all your eggs in one basket, i.e. the one big heavy lift launcher. Several listeners wanted to know the best path to try to influence the direction of space policy. Rand focused on congress and suggested visiting local congressional offices. Other listeners asked him about a possible increase in the NASA budget. He said money was not the issue for NASA. The issue was using the money wisely to do more with it than we are doing now. He repeated many times during the program that we were not going to have a replay of the Apollo program. Don’t miss his comments on this as they are scattered throughout our discussion. Near the end of the show, Rand was asked about the 2016 elections and space policy, rocket staging, even SSTO rocketry. When offering us concluding comments, he repeated we would not be repeating Apollo, that it was never that popular and much about it is a myth. Don’t miss what he had to say about the Apollo program and missions.

Please post your comments/questions on TSS blog above. Rand can be reached through me or his blog, www.Transterrestrial.com.

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Guest: Dr. Jeff Bell. Topics: Dr. Bell offered us a critique of many aspects of both the NewSpace & traditional space industry. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, https://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm. For those listening to archives using live365.com and rating the programs, please email me as to why you assign a specific rating to the show. This will help me bring better programming to the audience.

After a long absence, we welcomed Dr. Jeff Bell back to the show for a nearly 2.5 hour critique of NewSpace as well as traditional aerospace. In the first segment of our very long program, Dr. Bell started off talking about the SpaceShip2 accident and the NTSB report, then he went into a lengthy discussion about hybrid rocket motors. Later in the segment, he turned his attention to first stage recovery efforts regarding the Falcon 9, testing procedures, ground testing, and more. Jeff had much to say about these & other topics which covered the first hour of the program.

In the second longer segment, Jeff from Tucson was the first caller. He started off by talking about a book Dr. Bell had recommended on a previous Space Show program “Ignition.” Per our discussion, it is a free download book at http://web.gccaz.edu/~wkehowsk/ignition.pdf. Other topics in this segment included the Ranger Program, lots on cubesats as Dr. Bell questioned the usefulness of very small satellites. Later on, Dr. Bell recommended another book, this one by George Sutton, “History of Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines.” Another topic Jeff seemed to go after was what he referred to as, “NewSpace Patent Wars. He particularly zeroed in on the Blue Origin-Space X patent dispute over landing first stage rockets on a barge to achieve reusable first stages. Jeff then told how patent wars had been used over the years and he cited many different examples, including going back to Robert Goddard. Later in the segment, he suggested many of these influences were a result of the influence Silicon Valley has had on the space industry, particularly NewSpace. He then talked about booster recovery in general. Doug sent in a note asking Jeff which he preferred, the SpaceX’s propulsive recovery or ULA’s airborne recovery of just the engines. Before the segment ended, Jeff addressed Antares and the use of Russian rocket motors. More was said about cubesats, then Jeff took off on government subsidized programs. His last topic or target one might say was suborbital tourism. Don’t miss what he had to say about this part of the industry.

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Guest: Jim Muncy: Topics: Space Policy, budget issues, company overviews, and more. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, https://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm. For those listening to archives using live365.com and rating the programs, please email me as to why you assign a specific rating to the show. This will help me bring better programming to the audience.

We welcomed Jim Muncy back to the program to discuss current space policy and budget issues before the U.S. Congress, company updates, and much more. During the first segment of our 1 hour 50 minute discussion, Jim provided us with the groundwork for most of our discussion by going back to the Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984, then the update to it known as the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004. He talked about both the House and Senate versions of the NASA and space budget bills and some of the differences between the two bills. One difference which he explained in detail early in the second segment had to do with the learning period which is important for the developing industry. Another difference between the two revolved around extending the ISS commitment to 2024 plus issues relating to BLEO space. When asked if he thought the final bill would be signed or vetoed by the president, he said it was nonpartisan and he did not see problems getting it signed into law. Listeners asked about funding SLS. Much was said about SLS in both segments but one listener asked Jim why so many supported SLS given its shortcomings. Jim explained the mindset of many SLS supporters in congress. As you will hear, SLS is hardly a black or white issue. This discussion led to a related discussion on developing a new rocket engine, the issues involved, the competitors, methane versus other fuel, and more. In particular, he used Alabama Congressman Mike Rogers as an example supporting is analysis of the situation. Jim was asked about the impact of the Falcon 9 failure which led him to address the need for multiple launchers and competition. Later, Alex asked him about his areas of concern regarding the pending budget legislation. He talked about sequestration, spending caps, delays, and the problem with operating on a CR which is likely. This is a lengthy but important discussion so don’t miss it. Before the segment ended, Jim was asked about the lunar lander. Jim then talked about the Flexible Path, Google Lunar XPrize, cislunar space development and Mars. Jim advocated the need for public private partnerships, then he was asked about international partnerships.

In the second segment, we started with an email question from Doug inquiring about the Augustine Commission presenting an option for returning to the Moon with landers developed in a public-private program context. After Jim’s response, I asked him to refer back to a comment he made in the first segment and to explain what was meant by the learning period. This was an important discussion so don’t miss it. As part of his response, he also provided a short overview of the suborbital industry and participants plus the orbital industry. A good portion of this segment focused on the importance of the learning period. Our last question of the evening was from Helen. She asked Jim if it would be beneficial to ask political candidates in the 2016 races space related questions assuming they know nothing about space. Jim supported the idea but he told us all to make the question broader than just what interests us in the space industry. He gave several examples of this. What he said made sense to me so I urge all of you who get a chance to question a 2016 candidate, ask your space question the way Jim suggested.

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Guest: Dr. Clark Lindsey. Topics: We reviewed current issues and happenings across the full spectrum of the space industry. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, https://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm. For those listening to archives using live365.com and rating the programs, please email me as to why you assign a specific rating to the show. This will help me bring better programming to the audience.

We welcomed Dr. Clark Lindsey back to the program for a wide ranging discussion on space industry news and issues. During the first segment of our 1 hour 47 minute program, Clark started out by talking about the changes over the years in the small satellite industry. He referenced several companies making news such as One World, Spire, Planet Labs, Skybox, Rocket Lab, Firefly, plus others. This brought him to an interesting cubesat discussion. Next up was the Falcon 9 launch failure from a few days ago. He did not have any new information and we are all still waiting for the cause of the mishap to be stated. He did clarify some of the confusion around the Air Force having sent a destruct signal to the Falcon 9. He said such a signal was sent but about 90 seconds after the event. We then talked about other rocket launch failures in the early days of the Arianne, Atlas & Delta history. Clark was asked about policy issues surrounding the RD-180 engine buy, Senator McCain, commercial crew, and congressional leanings at this point in time. Listeners asked him if he thought SpaceX was seriously hurt by the Falcon 9 accident. He said he thought the company was definitely wounded but it was too early to determine how badly the wound might be. He mentioned the Google billion dollar investment in SpaceX, their commercial manifest and more. Joe in Dallas wanted to know how he thought the Falcon Heavy schedule might be altered as a result of the launch failure. Clark talked about other work being carried out by SpaceX plus he offered some ideas on how testing of any new Falcon 9 systems might be integrated into testing other SpaceX projects including the Falcon Heavy. Jack in Boston wanted to know if Clark had any information on Virgin Galactic. Clark talked about XCOR in his answer and said the companies would likely be adopting a very slow go time table to assure no further mishaps.

In the second segment, we started discussing Clark’s slide presentation on the satellite industry per his talk at Space Access 2015. You can find these slides on The Space Show blog post for this program as I uploaded them to the blog with Clark’s permission. As you will hear later in this segment, we got sidetracked by listener questions and calls so Clark did not get to finish going through the slide presentation so I urge you to view the slides on your own as they certainly clarify the commercial markets and more for many of the satellite markets and uses. Earlier in the segment, Clark did talk about the GEO communication market, also the small satellite market for both LEO and MEO. He was optimistic that commercial companies will start to emerge to address the launch market issues for the small satellites. Clark did talk about the market for these satellites for tracking maritime shipping. He has a special slide illustrating this but from what Clark said, it sounds like a potentially very lucrative market to exploit. Clark fielded some questions about the legal and regulator regime for commercial space and said that not only was the technology pushing the frontiers of development, so were the space law and regulatory issues pushing the frontier for moving the industry forward. He used space debris removal as an example. Tim from Brooklyn sent in a note asking about space tugs and Falcon Heavy which was followed by a good discussion on SLS, space tugs, fuel depots, and one’s space vision for the future as SLS John called in to talk SLS and more with Clark. Tim wanted to know just what we could do today and over the next 5 years with a space tug and the Falcon Heavy. Don’t miss what Clark had to say in response to this question. As we neared the end of the program, Clark provided a sort of short rocket industry overview for us, he talked deep space rocketry, & cost effective SpaceX manufacturing processes. He quickly summarized several of his slides that we did not have time to discuss, then we both offered summary statements about the positive direction commercial space has been going in recent years, despite setbacks, with both of us believing the growth and progress will continue.

Please post your comments/Questions for Dr. Clark Lindsey on TSS blog above. You can reach Clark through his website or me.

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Guests: Open Lines with Dr. David Livingston; Topics: Falcon 9 launch failure, SpaceX, New Horizons, Pluto, and more. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, https://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. In addition, please remember that your Amazon purchases can help support The Space Show/OGLF. See http://www.onegiantleapfoundation.org/amazon.htm. For those listening to archives using live365.com and rating the programs, please email me as to why you assign a specific rating to the show. This will help me bring better programming to the audience.

Welcome to our last Open Lines program for June 2015. During the first segment of our 2 hour 9 minute program, we started off with my customary suggestion of a few topics including the Falcon 9 launch failure and a Space Review article from June 8 of this year by Dr. Sam Dinkin, “How much money would it take to launch enterprise into space? (See www.thespacereviewe.com/article/2766/1). Our first caller, Dr. Dwayne Day, wanted to talk about Sam’s article and analysis. We had an interesting discussion on its contents but see what you think after reading the short article. Dwayne also talked about the coming Pluto flyby by New Horizons. I then asked Dwayne for his thoughts on the Falcon 9 launch failure. Dwayne offered us several interesting observations about the launch failure and SpaceX. Our next caller was Tim from Huntsville and he too wanted to talk about the Falcon 9 launch attempt. He kept repeating we have to do better than chemical rockets. Before the break, I read an email that came in from Kelly. Kelly is not a fan or supporter of SpaceX but as you know, The Space Show is willing to air all sides of an argument so I read Kelly’s email on air as it had much to say that was critical about SpaceX.

In the second segment Kelly was our first caller. I put it to Kelly to support his critical comments about the company. Kelly then talked about lots of issues about SpaceX processes ranging from parts, manufacturing, cutting corners, safety and more. Several listeners sent in emails asking Kelly direct questions about what he was saying. I made it clear that I did not agree with much of what he was saying but you give it some thought and decide the issue for yourself. Keep in mind that it is not unusual for a new rocket to have problems, even to fail to reach orbit. Sometimes many flights have to take place to discover a problem. As I said, I have every confidence that SpaceX will fix whatever the problem is and resume launches as soon as possible. Kelly sent in a few additional emails during the balance of the show to support the claims he was making. Our next caller was Dr. Doug from S. California. Doug wanted to talk about the Falcon 9 launch and the need for multiple launchers which he said were a good thing. Listner Karen emailed us with a question about the Falcon 9 debris field, then Tim called back, then Michael Listner called to continue talking about New Horizons and Pluto. During Michael’s call, he got a listener question asking if the money would have been better spent on a Uranus mission. He also talked about the possible regulatory impact of the Falcon 9 loss including RD180 engines, ULA, Air Force certification, and fallout with Senator McCain on his subcommittee regarding the RD180 engines. Dwayne called back to talk Pluto, the Decadal Survey and planetary missions, plus he talked about the Applied Physics Lab (APL), the Uranus mission mentioned earlier by a listeners and more.

Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog above. You can reach all the callers and emailers through me.